KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After a Saturday of helping Tennessee football flip field position on the Auburn Tigers, punter Jackson Ross has been named SEC Special Teams player of the Week. Ross and the punt coverage team pinned Auburn inside the 20 on five of the sixth punts. All five of those landed inside the Tigers’ 11-yard line. Ross averaged 44.2 yards per punt and had a long of 51 yards.
“I think there’s only one fitting way to start this press conference. At first, the game of breaks go against you, don’t let up, put on more steam. Proud of our team for doing that in the second half. We’re honoring General Neyland and his legacy, uniforms, everything; it’s the right way to start this press conference. Defense held everybody in the game. Special teams, phenomenal job, Jackson Ross, punt unit, I think five (punts) inside the 11. And ultimately, offense was able to find a little bit of footing in the second half. Resilient, loved the way they came out and played, and competed. There’s so many things in the first half that offensively we got to do better, but proud of our team.
Ross is fifth-year ambidextrous punter out of Australia, and he was a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award in 2025. This season, he’s averaged 45.2 yards a punt in 20 attempts. Nine punts have landed inside the 20, and three have been 50 or more yards.
Ross and the Tennessee Volunteers are set to travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas to face the Razorbacks on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 4:15 p.m. EDT on SEC Network.
